66 "and fortunes of all, will be found interesting to all, if it "be not presented them in a revolting shape, and entangled "in a maze of subordinate machinery which, though a "necessary part of the mental furniture of a practising lawyer, only serves to embarrass the progress of the "Student, and to obstruct the freedom of his view. But a "Teacher, who is to be really efficient, must not be a mere "reader of written lectures. The rudiments of law, like "those of all other practical sciences, must be worked into "the mind more by the constant teaching of a Tutor than by the occasional essays of a lecturer. 66 "Let the Vinerian Professorship of Law be made a "working reality, instead of what it has ever been since "the time of living memory,-a sinecure and a sham; and "Oxford will soon become a school of jurisprudence, which "will not only invigorate youth for the more practical and severe studies of the Inns of Court, but will gradually "infuse into the English law a more healthy, liberal, sen"sible, and scientific spirit, and thereby do an incalculable "service to the nation." 66 We must here repeat, what we have more than once said before, that we cannot consider it desirable to establish in Oxford a strictly Professional Education. The technical knowledge of any profession can best be gained at the places where the profession is best practised. Some persons, indeed, among whom is Mr. Bethell, recommend that this preparatory education should be given, not by the University, but at the Inns of Court. This eminent authority strongly urges that the teaching should be "tutorial teaching, such as exists at the University in "other departments of learning." And we think Mr. Denison's reasons for preferring the University itself are cogent.* "(1.) As it is very important (he says)† that a knowledge "of the principles of law should be deemed a desirable * Evidence of Mr. Denison, p. 199. † Ibid. 66 66 66 PRINCIPLES OF LAW. 299 "element in a liberal education, it should be taught at "those places which usually form the final stage of general "education, as distinct from special or professional education. At the Universities, all youths who were so disposed might study it; whereas, if taught at the Inns of Court, it would be extremely unlikely that eldest sons, or "indeed any persons except those destined for the bar, "would subject themselves to the needful restraints, or "have the same stimulus which would naturally attach "to an University course of study. In short, it would be "too late to begin it when the University career is completed. 66 66 After leaving the Universities, young men are, natu"rally enough, quite weary of tutors and teaching; they long for freedom both of thought and action, and will rarely recommence their pupilage and encounter a fresh "series of examinations. But if the Tutorial system means "anything, it involves all this. 66 66 66 "(2.) It is highly desirable to combine with the elementary study of Law the kindred studies of Logic, "Rhetoric, Evidence, and History; all of which might be eminently useful to illustrate, enliven, and vary it, while "Law might in its turn give to them a more real and prac"tical bearing than they have at present. All this would "quite naturally be done at the Universities, whereas it “would not, and probably could not, be done at all at the "Inns of Court. 66 (3.) It is admitted in the Report of the Law Amend"ment Society (Eighth Annual Address, p. 9) that the "great difficulty which has impeded the operations of the "Committee in establishing a Law School has been the “want of funds;' that a Law School is necessarily a 66 6 costly undertaking.' But, at the Universities, the only "cost will be an adequate salary to one efficient Teacher. "(4.) It is proposed that, in London, the teaching should "be gratuitous. The Lecturer should be put to no exHe may be willing to give his time, but no 66 6 pense. "other demand should be made upon him.'-(Ibid.) "But a system of gratuitous instruction in Law can "scarcely be lasting, and will probably be worth very little "while it lasts. 66 Many other objections to the above plan will readily "suggest themselves. But even assuming that such a "scheme were practicable, it does not make it at all less "desirable that the elements of Law should be taught at "the Universities. The two plans may co-exist without in "the slightest degree interfering with each other. And "this much seems clear-that if the Tutorial system is "practicable in London, it is so, à fortiori, at the Uni"versities." Every one, however, must be aware of the temptations, difficulties, and inconveniences which beset the legal Student at the beginning of his professional studies in London. Few greater benefits could be bestowed by the University than that of imparting to him, within its quiet and regulated precincts, before he enters on his London career, that initiation into legal principles, which, if sought at all, is now sought and often missed amidst the various distractions of the metropolis. But the study of the principles of Jurisprudence, closely connected as they are with the principles of Morals and Politics, and necessary as they are for the study of History, Ancient and Modern, will be of more general use than simply to prepare the minds of lawyers for the right discharge of their professional avocations. Future statesmen, and that important class of men who are to administer justice as magistrates, and to exercise great influence as landed proprietors, may reap much benefit from these studies, combined as they will be with History and Political Economy, according to the provisions already contained in the Statute of 1850. Professors and Teachers in this School, able and willing to do their duty, may attract many to the University, who now seek such knowledge elsewhere, or do not think of seeking it at all; and thus the University, if the subject be taken up zealously, will be MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 301 enabled not only to raise its own character, but to render great service to the country. IV. School of Mathematical and Physical Science. IV. The Fourth School is that of MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 1. Mathematical School. 1. As regards the Mathematical School we have little to add to what we have said in our account of the present state of the studies of the University. A few useful changes in the study of Mathematics have been introduced by the new Statute. Henceforth all Students must acquire some knowledge of Arithmetic, and of Euclid or Algebra. Formerly the more indolent, having the option, preferred taking up a miserable pittance of Logic. Many who enter on these studies by compulsion may be induced to pursue them from choice. The Honours held out at the intermediate Examination to encourage the study of Pure Mathematics will, doubtless, prove a stimulus; at any rate, the recognition of the principle that some knowledge of Mathematics is indispensable to a good education is in itself of great value. 2. School of Physical Science. 2. Till the passing of the recent Statute, Physical Science had never been recognised as a branch of academical study, except in connexion with Mathematics; and many departments of this Science were not recognised at all. Even now it is so encumbered with the necessity of continuing the study of Literæ Humaniores to the end of the University Course, that it can hardly be said to be independent. From this encumbrance we have already recommended that it should be relieved. On the importance of this study, as part of a liberal education, much stress is laid in the Evidence which has been submitted to us. To the remarks already quoted, we add the opinion of several persons whose words are deserving of attention: "I must also (says Mr. Lowe,* formerly Fellow of Mag"dalen College, and lately Member of Council at Sydney), 66 as a sincere well-wisher to the University, express my "hope that the Physical Sciences will be brought much "more prominently forward in the scheme of University "education. I have seen in Australia Oxford men placed "in positions in which they had reason bitterly to regret "that their costly education, while making them intimately "acquainted with remote events and distant nations, had "left them in utter ignorance of the laws of Nature, and placed them under immense disadvantages in that struggle "with her which they had to maintain.” "Few educated men (says Mr. Grove,† a distinguished "Member of the Royal Society) will be found who, if they "have not early studied Physical Science, do not regret "such omission; and none will, I venture to affirm, be "found who, having had their attention early directed to it, "think their time has, in this respect, been misapplied." "In regard to Physics or Natural History (says Sir "Charles Lyell ‡), a great range of choice ought to be permitted, whether in the matriculation or any subsequent "examination, and it ought to be indifferent to the Uni 66 versity whether Astronomy, or some of the numerous "branches of Natural Philosophy, or Chemistry, or Geology, Mineralogy, Zoology, or Botany be preferred. The "new Examination Statutes, passed in 1850, show that the 66 governing majority of Graduates were not then prepared "to recognise even one single department of Physics or "Natural History as admissible, much less requisite, in the "first two examinations. Even in the third, that class of subjects which is growing daily in importance was left entirely optional, so that the highest academical prizes 66 66 * Evidence, p. 13. † Ibid., p. 29. Ibid., p. 122. |